


the perfect end

by crumpled_up



Series: July 2020 Camp NaNoWriMo of May/Coulson fics [5]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Everyone Lives At The End, F/M, Slice of Life, end of the series wish, fluff fluff fluff, no more time travel please, not responsible for any cavities that may occur, only happy endings here, the timeline is fixed back to the original timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:41:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25643722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crumpled_up/pseuds/crumpled_up
Summary: This is where May and Coulson end up at the end of the series.  AKA this is what retirement looks like.
Relationships: Phil Coulson/Melinda May
Series: July 2020 Camp NaNoWriMo of May/Coulson fics [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1812664
Comments: 41
Kudos: 76





	the perfect end

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this the day after 7.09 aired, in one sitting because I had so many feelings. Then I sat on it for a week because I was so drained. Now, I think it's decent enough and it's the end of July (in my timezone it is!), and I need to post one last fic for Camp Nano. (Don't worry I have plenty more in the works. I just couldn't finish them all this month. There are like 20 some odd ideas floating around that may or may not ever see the light of day lol.) Enjoy!

May sighed as she walked the halls of the newly founded Phillip J. Coulson building on the SHIELD Academy campus. The building was spacious and gorgeous, exactly how she pictured Coulson would actually want a building named after him. Some of his surviving artifacts were displayed in various locations around the building, along with a little placard detailing some of the history, like a museum. His Captain America trading cards had a special spot, of course, along with the axe Mack used to cut off his left hand, but that particular item did not have any information attached to it. May let the rumors swirl around that one for fun.

The building also had the latest tech in all the labs and classrooms. With Coulson's love of the latest tech and gadgets, she felt the need to make sure that was a must. She even had an entire floor decked out as a library so all the cadets could brush up on their SHIELD history. The building wasn't cheap, but after haggling with Fury, she won. (And if Deke helped out with a portion of the costs... well, that was a secret she was willing to take to the grave.)

It was the least she could do to honor the man, the agent, the legend. Maybe one day, there would be another agent who could live up to his name. Other than Daisy, of course.

Except there was one particular item that she decidedly did _not_ agree, nor order, to be placed on this wall right at the entrance. It was a large portrait of Coulson's face. And it took up the entire fucking wall.

She sighed again as she buried her face in her hand. She wanted a portrait of him to greet everyone who entered the building, but not like this. This was... obnoxious. Definitely _not_ Coulson. While he could play up his game, he would never want his face plastered all over like this. He would die of embarrassment first.

There was only one person she could think of who would do this.

"Nice place you got here."

May turned around and smiled. The emotionless fog she had been in for their final mission had lifted, and she felt more normal. (Coulson would argue that it was his presence that caused her emotions to come back, and while she made a show of disagreeing with him, she secretly did agree.) She still had her empathic abilities, but at least she could feel her own emotions now.

"Daisy," May said still smiling. "Nice of you to drop by."

"Had to check this place out. I mean it's all the rage. Apparently I'm the last to get the tour? How is that possible?"

"Mack and Yo-yo stopped by last week, when you were out on a mission."

Daisy grinned. "How are those two anyway? Yo-yo pregnant yet?"

May shrugged. "Wouldn't say."

"Oh please. I know you can feel them."

"There's something going on, for sure. But they didn't come out and say anything."

"So, that's a yes." Daisy pumped her fist. "Oh Fitz is so gonna owe me!"

"Speaking of, how are FitzSimmons?"

Daisy's smile lit up the room. "Amazing. Especially considering everything. Simmons' pregnancy is on par, according to her. Everything is perfect."

May couldn't help but smile. "That's great to hear."

"Hey, that's a really cool picture of Coulson," Daisy said, pointing at the wall. "Wonder who did that?"

May snorted. "Please. I know it was you. I would never agree to this."

"Come on, May. The man deserves his face on a wall."

"Yes, but not like _this._ " May turned to glare at Daisy. "I specifically ordered for his portrait to not be this big. He would never like it."

"Well, we could ask him."

"I haven't had the guts to tell him about it yet," May muttered. "But he's dying to take a tour of his own building."

"You mean he hasn't yet?"

May shook her head. "I wanted to make sure everything was perfect before he came in to criticize all my hard work."

"Please, he would never. I mean if you did it, he'd be happy."

"Which is probably why he'll end up being fine with his giant face on a wall once he figures out it was you who did it."

Daisy grinned and linked arms with May, letting her happiness flow. "Come on. Give me the grand tour, Director May."

+

"Oh man, the axe is probably my favorite part," Daisy said with a laugh as they entered May's office at the end of the tour. "But that library is amazing. How did you get all those books?"

May shrugged. "Connections. Favors. Scavenging."

May's office was simple with a desk, a few chairs, some file cabinets, a large window overlooking the quad. Very minimal and elegant. What caught Daisy's eye were the pictures that littered the walls and her desk. May never was sentimental like that.

"Is that..." Daisy leaned in closer to one of the pictures on the wall. "That's when we were all at that pie shop before we all got sucked into the future." She moved onto another picture. "And this one was the last team picture we ever took... with Enoch." Her heart lurched. "I miss him. I totally forgot about this. Can I get a copy?"

May nodded. "Of course."

Daisy whipped out her phone and quickly snapped a picture. Then she happened to glance at something out of the corner of her eye. "No way." She picked up a framed photo on May's desk. "You two look so young! When was this?"

May leaned over Daisy's shoulder to grin at the picture of her and Coulson, his arm around her shoulders and the biggest smiles on their faces. "Graduation. The gold tassel is for Communications, black is for Operations. We were relieved we finally made it, and very, very excited to get out in the field."

"So young and innocent," Daisy said softly as she traced their faces. Then she snapped a picture of that one too. "Must feel like forever ago, huh?"

"Lifetimes ago. But this is what we signed up for. I don't regret most of it."

Daisy put the picture back. "Me either. I never would've met you guys otherwise." She looked up with tears shining in the corner of her eyes. "Can I hug you?"

"Of course." May held her arms out and Daisy fell into them, holding her tightly. Daisy let all of her love, happiness, and relief flood out of her and into May. "I feel the same, Daisy," May murmured as she squeezed her. "Don't you worry."

"I love you," Daisy said, choking back tears. "I really, really do."

May held her for a few more moments, rubbing her back. Then she pulled back, leaving her hands on Daisy's shoulders. "What are you doing tonight?"

Daisy sniffed as she swiped at her eyes. "Uh, I don't know. I think Sousa and I were just going to chill and watch a movie that was from this decade for once."

"Why don't you two come over for dinner?"

"You're not cooking, are you?"

May gave her the most unimpressed face. "Phil is."

"Oh good." Daisy let out a relieved sigh. "Because otherwise I'd say, let's just pick up some take out."

May rolled her eyes and gathered up her belongings. "Come on, let's get out of here. I'll let Phil know." She fired off a quick text.

"Hey, so how _is_ Coulson doing with everything?" Daisy asked as they made their way down to the main entrance. "You know, with the whole staying in hiding thing?"

"He's trying to keep busy. He's picked up surfing now."

"Surfing? Seriously? But doesn't the salt water...?"

"Interfere with his body? Guess not. He says it's perfectly fine, and he hasn't had any problems that I'm aware of. He goes nearly every morning while I do Tai Chi."

"Nice. Maybe he can teach me how to surf."

"I'm sure he'd love to. I don't care for it."

"What else is he doing with the rest of his time?"

"Well, he tried picking up a few hobbies here and there. Tried building boats for a little bit."

"Boats? Seriously?"

"Yeah, in those bottles? He's terrible at it. So now he's really into cooking. He's always liked it, but now it's his new passion, wanting to try new things all the time. I swear, I'm going to gain a hundred pounds because of him."

Daisy laughed. "Yeah right. Like you could gain any weight."

"Trust me, if I didn't work these cadets into the ground, you would see it." May stopped at the landing before going into the main entrance. "I don't know if it's all his restless energy, but he's..."

"Not adjusting well," Daisy finished. "You think he misses being out in the field?"

May looked away. "That was my guess too. I told him he could go back if he wanted to, especially if he wanted to work with you. I wouldn't trust him with anyone else to watch his back."

"I'd be okay with that. Ecstatic really."

She sighed. "We also talked about shutting him down. Permanently."

Daisy looked up horrified. "What? Why?"

"Relax. He said no. And if he wanted to, we would tell the team so you can all say goodbye."

Daisy sighed in relief. "Good. Good."

"I don't know if he's waiting for grandkids or what, but he said he'll figure it out."

Daisy turned red. "Grandkids? I mean FitzSimmons is pregnant. Yo-yo might be, too."

"Don't worry, Daisy," May said with a slight grin. "There's no rush. Besides, I did the next best thing."

"Don't tell me _you're_ pregnant?!"

May stared at her in disbelief. "No. I'm too old for that. And how the hell could that happen? He's a robot. While there are advantages to that--"

"Oh my God, stop there. Please stop. I do _not_ need to hear about your sex lives." She shuddered. "Oh God. I just... You're having sex with a robot, you know that, right?"

"I've made my peace with that. Like I said, there are advantages." May smirked. "And you're having sex with an old man."

Daisy pushed through the doors to head out into the main entrance. "Can we just move onto what you actually did to make him feel better, please? I need to bleach my brain of these images."

"I got him a puppy."

Daisy's squeal echoed around the empty entrance. "You did?!"

"Yup. Cutest little thing. He named her Carter--"

"After Peggy Carter, got it," Daisy finished. "Let me guess, if you got him a boy, he would've named him Steve Rogers."

"Or Cap."

Daisy laughed. "Yeah, sounds about right. Oh man, Sousa is gonna flip out about this."

"Need a ride?" May asked as she gestured to her motorcycle. "You can squeeze on and I've got another helmet."

"Nah, I'm good thanks. I need to go pick up Sousa anyway. Meet you there?"

May nodded. "See you soon."

+

May parked her bike in the garage and hid her little surprise in the fridge there. As soon as she opened the door, Carter launched herself at May, pawing at her thigh. "Hey, girl," May said as she bent down to scratch her behind the ears. "Good girl. You been good for Phil? You haven't been begging for samples have you?"

Carter barked and licked her hand, tail wagging.

May sighed. "Yeah, I figured. Come on, let's go see what Daddy's up to."

She found Coulson cooking up a storm in their large kitchen. It was a must and basically the only reason why they bought this house. He instantly fell in love with it, and she wanted the backyard. The kitchen looked like a tornado ripped through, but it was organized at least. May loved watching him completely in his zone, with nothing else distracting him from making his latest masterpiece. Until Carter barked, of course.

His head shot up in a daze as he looked over at them. "Oh, hey, you're back already."

"Did you get my text?" She wandered over to what looked like a sauce and went to dip her finger only for it to be slapped away.

"Stop that," he chided. "And yes, Daisy and Sousa are coming. Good thing I already planned to make a lot of food."

"You always make a lot of food," she said with a slight roll of her eyes. "It's why I've already gained ten pounds."

He glanced over at her, giving her a once over that sent heat straight through her body. "I couldn't tell." He leaned over to give her a kiss on the temple. "Still as beautiful as ever."

"Now you're pushing it." But she pulled him in for a kiss anyway. "Can I help with anything?"

"Yeah, can you take Carter out for a walk? I did earlier, but she still needs to poop."

"Lovely." She looked down at her furry companion. "Wanna go for a walk?"

Carter lit up and wagged her tail.

+

"Hey, you okay?" Daisy asked as she joined Coulson outside in the backyard that was lit with soft white lighting. May and Sousa had offered to clean up after dinner. Daisy decided not to read into it too much since she was positive May was grilling Sousa about their relationship and threatening him at the same time.

"Yeah, just enjoying the warm weather. What's up?" Coulson said as he leaned back on the patio chair, looking as relaxed as ever.

"Dinner was fantastic by the way. May said you've been on a cooking spree, but if this is the result, it's so worth it."

He smiled. "Thank you. May seems to think my cooking is going to make her fat."

Daisy chuckled. "If that's what you're feeding her every night, I believe it. I loved dinner, don't get me wrong. You know, she's just worried about you, and so am I."

"What's there to worry about? You look great. Sousa seems to make you really happy. The world isn't ending. Life is great."

"I don't know. I mean, yes, it's fantastic the world isn't in the near catastrophic state it's been in the last few years, but you tell me."

Coulson shrugged. "I'm fine."

"Are you really?"

"I mean I'm a little bored. I guess I got used to the constant adrenaline rush of the past few years, and dying a few times in between."

"Do you want to come back?"

He sighed and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. "I thought about it. May said she would be okay with it, but I could tell she wasn't. Part of me misses it, and another part of me doesn't. So, I don't know. It's weird."

Daisy suddenly understood why May suggested shutting him down permanently. "Are _you_ happy?"

"Happy? I mean, yeah, I guess. I'm happy that we all somehow made it out of that shit storm alive. I'm happy you and Sousa are doing well. I'm happy Simmons' pregnancy is on track without any complications. I'm happy Mack and Yo-yo are going strong. And Deke, is well... Deke."

"Are you happy with May?" Daisy said quietly, hating to ask.

"Why would you ask that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. You tell me. You say you're happy for everyone else, except her."

He hung his head. "I wish... I wish I had more to offer her. I mean I'm not even real."

"Yes, you are," Daisy said fiercely. "You are just as real as I am. We've talked about this."

"I know, but I'm not human. I can't give her what she wants. Sometimes I see her looking at me and for a moment, I think she thinks I'm the real Phil Coulson, and then..."

"Then what?"

"It's almost like she realizes I'm just a copy."

"I know it's been an adjustment for the both of you, but--"

"But this is the reality we live in."

"So why stay?" Daisy finally asked. "Why not shut down permanently?"

He glanced over to the kitchen window to see May and Sousa chatting as they washed and dried dishes. "I... It's selfish of me, but I want to see where everyone ends up. I want to meet FitzSimmons' kid. I want to see you grow some more. And I couldn't leave May again." He looked over at Daisy. "Not after Tahiti."

"You know she's happy you stayed, right? And she's okay with you being a robot. Honestly, we're all glad you're still around. Our family wouldn't be complete without you."

"I know. I don't regret choosing to stay. I just..." He trailed off looking everywhere but at Daisy.

Daisy pulled out her phone, pulled up a picture and showed it to him. "Just look at this. Tell me this doesn't pull at your heartstrings."

Coulson zoomed in on the picture of them at the Academy Graduation eons ago. "Where did you...?"

"May has this photo of the two of you on her desk so she can see it all the time. She also has a bunch of team pics up on her walls. You should check it out. But this one is probably my favorite of the bunch. Just look at your smiles." Daisy grinned. "Judging from the look on your face, I bet you had a thing for her back then, didn't you?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I did. I had a huge crush on her, but she was so intimidating back then. Every time I tried to ask her out, I'd freeze. Happened so often, I just stopped bothering. But the feelings never really went away."

Daisy took her phone back and slipped it back into her pocket. "You need to stop being so hard on yourself, Coulson. She loves you, regardless if you're a human or not. Yeah, she can't feel you like she can the rest of us with her powers, but so what? Just show and tell her. You know, the old fashioned way."

"I guess I'm not doing a very good job of that if you're giving me a pep talk," Coulson said dryly.

"You just need to up your game, hot lips."

He groaned. "Not this again."

"That kiss will forever be seared into my memory."

At that moment, Carter broke free from inside the house and bounded up to Coulson, then to Daisy and back again. Sousa followed her out with a beer for each of them and a grin. "What will forever be in your memory?"

"May and Coulson's first kiss," Daisy said with a groan. "In the middle of a fight on a Kree battleship. And while they were making out, I took out all the other Kree trying to attack them."

"So, I don't quite understand what Kree is, but a kiss in the middle of battle sounds pretty romantic. If not a little dangerous."

Daisy face palmed. "Not you too."

May came out with a small cardboard box and some plates with utensils. "Well, I hear your first kiss was in the middle of that time storm."

"You told her?" Sousa said as he cracked his beer open.

Daisy shrugged. "It was kinda hot."

"Ooh, is this cake?" Coulson said with glee as he opened up the box. "You got me cake?" he asked May. "How'd you fit that on your bike and then sneak it into the house without me knowing?"

"Very carefully."

"How'd you know?"

"You wouldn't stop talking about how much you wanted cake all week. I sure as hell wasn't going to try to bake you one."

Daisy laughed as Sousa looked on in interest. "Why not?" he asked. "Seems perfectly reasonable to bake a man a cake."

Coulson grinned. "Trust me, this is the much safer option. If May tried, we'd be lucky if the house was still standing."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not _that_ bad."

"Or we could all go home with food poisoning," Daisy added. "Take your pick."

Sousa grimaced as he clutched his gut. "No thanks. Maybe you guys are right."

May dished out slices of chocolate cake to each person, then glared over at Coulson. "Not the dog, Phil. It's _chocolate._ Unless you want to kill her."

"Aww, sorry, baby," Coulson cooed at Carter as he held his plate away from the begging dog. "Mommy is being mean, but she's right. You can't have any."

"Come here, Carter," Daisy called as she held up one of the squeaky dog toys. "Look!" She squeezed the toy and launched it to the other side of the yard. "Go get it!" Carter scampered off. "She is the most adorable dog ever. You did good, May."

"I actually got her from Cal, believe it or not. When I went in to visit, he said there was a puppy in need of a good home, and well, here she is."

A wide smile bloomed on Daisy's face. "You went to check on my dad?"

"I figured if he knew of any dogs who needed to be adopted, he'd be the one to go to."

Daisy put her empty plate aside as she picked up Carter and nuzzled her. "No wonder you're a cutie. You came from my dad."

"Uh, am I the only one confused here?" Sousa said as he stacked his empty plate on top of hers. "Your dad... is a vet?"

"Yeah, long story. I'll explain that whole mess to you one day. But he's a vet." She laughed as Carter licked her nose. "A very good vet, huh, Carter? He probably took real good care of you until May walked in."

Sousa smiled as he reached over to pet Carter. "She is a cutie. Peggy would've loved her."

Coulson lit up. "Yeah? What else can you tell me about her?"

Daisy rolled her eyes and put Carter down, who ran over to Coulson and pawed at his leg until he picked her up. "Oh no. We are not staying for an entire history lesson on one of your heroes, Coulson."

"But it's straight from the source!"

"Phil, I'm sure they have a busy night," May said as she gathered up all the dirty dishes. "Didn't you say something about a mission?"

Sousa nodded. "Got another big op to plan for unfortunately."

"Yeah, if I don't kill one of the Koenig's first," Daisy muttered. She hugged each one of them, even planted a kiss on top of Carter's head before heading out. "Thanks again for dinner. I'll stop by again soon. Carter needs her new BFF to give her some love. Love you guys!"

Coulson sighed as he closed the front door behind them. It was always great to see anybody from the team, especially Daisy, but their earlier conversation weighed heavily on his mind. Was he happy? Sure. Was _May_ happy? He certainly hoped so. There was only one way to find out. 

He went into the kitchen to find May scrubbing the rest of the dishes, and the rush of emotion that went through him in seeing her being so domestic nearly knocked him over. _This_ was their life now. This perfect little slice of heaven where robots and aliens weren't trying to take over the world or kill them. This is exactly what they fought for, what they kept constantly sacrificing their lives for. Everything was worth it for this. For May to come home every night from work. For him to have a piping hot, delicious meal waiting for her. For having the team come over and watching their family expand. 

Why he ever thought this wouldn't be enough, that this would be _boring_ , he didn't know. If he could, he'd hit himself over the head.

He waited until she was done drying her hands before he snagged her around the waist, turned her around and kissed her deeply. "Hi," he said, breathless.

"Mmm. What was that for?"

"What, I can't just kiss you when I feel like it?" He leaned in for another short and sweet kiss. "Maybe I just like kissing you." He peppered butterfly kisses all over her face as she laughed, until she had enough and pushed him away.

"Okay, you're in a mood. What's going on?"

He leaned his forehead against hers. "I'm just happy. Are you?"

"Daisy talked to you," May said with a sigh as she leaned back to look at him.

"She had some good points to make. But I need to know if you're happy, May. I know I'm not exactly human, and we've both struggled to come to terms with that -- but I'm still me. The feelings I have for you are real. They never left, even if they became digitized on some hard drive somehow. No matter how many lifetimes we live, they won't change. That's the important part, right? Not the fact that I don't have flesh and bones."

May reached up to run her fingers down his cheek before tilting his head down to give him a searing, breathless kiss. "Does that answer you question?"

He looked at her dazed. "Might want to run that by me again."

She grinned as he kissed her again.

"Hey, can we go visit my building now?" he asked once they broke apart.

"You want to right now?"

He nodded eagerly. "Yeah."

She groaned as she rested her head against his chest. "Just when I thought we were getting somewhere."

He tilted her chin up to him and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll make it up to you, I promise. But I really, really want to see what you did. And no one will be there, right?"

She nodded. "Daisy gave her final stamp of approval today, so I guess it won't hurt."

"Can we take Lola?"

"No. We're taking my bike. It's less flashy and we can pull right up to the building."

"Technically, we could fly right up to the building in Lola." He grinned as he followed her out to the garage and snagged the extra helmet. "You just want me wrapped all around you, I get it."

She threw a smirk his way, and hopped on her bike. "If that happens to be a perk, then so be it."

He pressed a kiss to the back of her neck before they put on their helmets.

+

The second they stepped into the building, he stopped and stared at his giant face staring back at him. "Daisy," was the first thing out of his mouth. "Am I right?"

May chuckled. "Correct. We decided we'd ask you for the final verdict. I obviously would not have chosen for your face to take up an entire wall."

"Hmm." He tilted his head. "I mean I guess I can see the appeal, but that's too much, even for me. Maybe if I were Stark, this would be appropriate."

May snickered. "Come on, I'll show you the rest and then you can decide if you want to be the next Tony Stark or not."

"You know, this feels weird walking through my own building, named after me, and I'm not dead yet." He paused. "Okay, well, I am, but I'm technically still alive in robot form."

"Which is why it felt odd to ask you to inspect your own building."

He grinned over at her as he took her hand. "I don't know, it's pretty awesome so far. I mean you salvaged the axe, that's fucking epic."

"I figured you'd like that touch."

"I also approve of the Captain America trading card shrine. Very appropriate."

"Wait 'til you see this." May pushed open the doors to the library. "This has been everyone's favorite so far."

It was massive. The entire floor was covered in floor to ceiling shelves full of books on everything that was near and dear to Coulson's heart. From World War II to US History, to science and technology. He was in complete awe.

"You did all this... for me?" He asked as he took in everything. There were comfortable chairs set up in strategic corners, areas with tables and chairs for studying, and even snack and drink vending machines. He pulled her to him and kissed her in the middle of the library. "I didn't think it was possible to love you even more, but I do."

"So I take it you like it?"

"I fucking _love_ it, May. How the hell did you do this?"

She shrugged. "I've got connections." Deke was very resourceful during this time, and so were Fitz and Simmons. This library wouldn't have been half as decent without them.

Coulson plopped down into one of the soft, comfy chairs and groaned. "Oh man, I don't know if it's a good thing or bad thing that these chairs are so comfortable. Come here." He tugged her down with him and kissed her again. "Yeah, these are definitely bad news," he mumbled as he continued to press kisses down her jawline and neck. "This isn't going to be a library as much as a place to make out."

May shoved him away and pulled him out of the seat. "Okay, so I'll switch out these chairs."

"Oh, you can totally keep them. I'm just saying, I remember what it's like to be young and on top of the world, and wanting to ask out the toughest and most intimidating girl I've ever met." He grinned over at her. "I mean if we had these chairs back then, I might've just started making out with you right then and there."

May rolled her eyes and guided him toward one end of the library. "Please, you wouldn't have had the guts to do that."

"Yeah, you're right. I couldn't even ask you out back then. And I was terrified you'd beat me to death."

She raised an eyebrow. "You still can't."

"Hey, I asked you to come here, didn't I?" He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her closer. "This is kind of a date."

"For your ego."

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Maybe. But it's working so far. Can you save one of those chairs and put it in your office? So when I come visit, I have a fun chair to sit in and we can make out like teenagers."

May elbowed him in the side and he chuckled. "What is with you tonight?"

"I told you, I'm happy. Now, where are we going?"

She took him to the end of the library where there were floor to ceiling windows overlooking a majority of the campus. He could see the quad, the training grounds, the housing, and various other buildings that dotted the area. "I debated if I wanted to have this here since it could be distracting, but I figured it gave a bigger picture of what was expected for the cadets."

"This is quite the view," Coulson said as he stood right at the windows. "If we had a place like this back in the day, I probably would never leave."

May stood beside him and laced their fingers together. "That was the point -- to make a place we would've loved to have back when we were here. It's not meant for just Ops or just Comms or just Science cadets, it's for everyone to come together and collaborate."

He looked over at her, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "You really do know me, don't you?"

"I'd hope so after twenty plus years."

He leaned down to kiss her again, something he couldn't get enough of tonight. This time it was sweeter and gentler than the others. "This is definitely my favorite spot."

"Mine too." She smiled and continued the tour.

"I do like the training rooms in the basement," Coulson said. "The labs on the top floors look like something FitzSimmons would've loved."

"I asked for some input, and they basically designed the whole thing. So it has all the latest and greatest tech any of the cadets could ask for." She opened the last door of their tour. "Here we are at my office."

"I love that your office is in my building, by the way," he said with a grin as he went inside. "Daisy was right, I do like your pictures. But you don't have one of us currently."

"There's one of the team on our final mission."

"Yeah, but I mean, _us_. Not when we were fresh from the Academy. We need to fix that." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, then pressed the loudest, most annoying kiss to her cheek as he took a selfie. "See, there we go." He held up his phone to show her the picture of her squished face.

She shoved the phone away from her. "No. Absolutely not."

"Fine, but I'm keeping it on my phone as my lock screen."

"Whatever. I don't need more pictures of you. I have one of your giant face downstairs, and I'm in an entire building named after you. Why would I need more?"

"To celebrate us and our relationship."

"You just want to show off."

"I mean this entire building is me showing off already. Why not have a picture with you? I wouldn't even have all this if it weren't for you. I wouldn't even have gotten this far without you always there watching my back. Oh!" He turned to look out her window. "Why don't we erect a statue of you outside, huh? Right there?"

"No. Stop. We're done here. Let's go home."

"Wait!" He pointed to the corner spot he was standing in. "Look, this spot right here would be perfect for one of those comfy chairs from the library!"

"You can drag one of those chairs in here if you want it so much."

"Maybe later." He touched her elbow after she locked up her office. "Can we make one more stop, please?"

"This part of your date still?"

"Yeah. Daisy said I had to up my game. Considering you completely out classed me with this building, I really need to step up my game."

May smirked. "You got game?"

"Hey, I got a building named after me. That's gotta give me some street cred, right?"

May punched him in the arm.

+

"Do you remember this place?" Coulson said as they hiked to the top of the hill over looking the campus.

"I don't remember it being that hard of a hike," May said, breathing hard. "What the hell."

"Maybe you just need to work out a little more."

She glared at him. "I blame all your cooking. And not all of us have bodies that run on endless energy."

"True. You love my cooking, don't lie."

"You're carrying me back down." 

He grinned. "See, we should've taken Lola after all. She could fly us out of here."

"It's not like I expected you to make us hike up the damn hill." May caught her breath and looked over the ridge. The Academy looked just as glorious as when they used to sneak out here as cadets. The lights shimmered in the night, like a small city all by itself. She sat down at the edge and let her legs dangle. "Isn't this where we planned the great Quinjet joyride?"

He laughed as he sat next to her. "This is where _you_ planned all your pranks. I am so shocked you didn't get kicked out of the Academy after stealing a Quinjet like that."

"My flight instructors were idiots. They finally believed that I was a good pilot after that stunt."

"I think your flying is the only thing that kept you in the Academy, honestly. And maybe your ability to kick everyone's ass." He nudged her shoulder. "But it was pretty hot watching you do that."

She rested her head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her. "Did you bring us up here to relive our Academy days?"

"They were fun times. Who knew they would also be the easiest times of our lives." He kissed the top of her head. "I brought you up here because this was the spot I pretty much fell in love with you."

She looked up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah. You were planning something ridiculous, and you had the most mischievous look on your face, and it hit me. I had somehow fallen in love with my best friend and couldn't tell you."

She nuzzled his neck. "Wow, you're really upping your game."

He pinched her side. "Way to ruin the moment."

She grinned and kissed his neck. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I couldn't! You were terrifying. Considering nearly every other guy had some kind of crush on you, I didn't want to end up like one of them. You beat up one guy for asking you out."

"No, I beat up some guys for making inappropriate comments."

"How was I supposed to know that confessing my love for you wasn't considered inappropriate?"

May considered that for a moment. "True. Back then, I probably wouldn't have believed you anyway."

He let out a sigh. "I know. Which is why I didn't say anything."

"Well, it took you long enough." 

"I know, I know. Just call me a coward."

She turned his face to her. "We're here now. Better late than never."

"Yeah, but I'm not really here, am I?"

May pulled back to truly face him. "I know it's been hard for both of us to accept this. But I believe you when you say you love me, that you have feelings for me. Which means that you still have a heart and a soul, regardless of whatever form your body is in now. That's all that matters, right?"

"You're really okay with me like this?"

"Yes. I couldn't do this with you if you were still stuck in a TV."

"Anything is better than that." He reached out to run his fingers through her hair, smiling at the silky texture. The simple act of being able to touch her was incredible to him. The fact that he might not have this chance, that he could have thrown this away was ludicrous to him. He had a long way to go to make her feel secure in his feelings for her.

He cupped the back of her head and brought her closer until he could capture her lips with his. He poured all the love he possessed into the kiss, hoping she would pick up on it. "I love you," he whispered, just in case it wasn't obvious to her yet. Daisy said to show and tell, right? "And I'm not going anywhere. Not without you."

May blinked away the haze she was in, and smiled at him. "So, you don't want to go back out into the field?"

He shook his head. "Not without you. So I guess I'm done there."

"What will you do?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'll go fishing. Or I'll pick up some other hobby. Maybe volunteer? Cook up the most amazing food every single night, and you'll complain about it, but secretly love it. Be the best partner to you."

She rested her palms on his chest as she considered an idea she had since she spoke with Daisy. "What if you came to the Academy with me? We could use someone like you to teach the cadets some of the ropes, learn some basic tactical strategies, and the like. You could call the shots. Maybe teach one or two classes if that's all you want. Be the living legend."

"Seriously? You want me to come back? No more hiding?"

"We'll just say that you played dead to get the Avengers together, then secretly worked in the shadows all this time. It's not too far of a stretch from the truth. No one needs to know the real truth."

"You really are serious."

"It's something to consider." She pressed one more kiss to his lips before standing up, then wincing as her knees popped. "I'm getting old."

"I could carry you back down if you want," he said as he dusted off his clothing. "Piggy back style?"

"I don't think my pride would let me." She started back down the path. "Come on, it's getting really dark now." Then she stopped. "You wouldn't happen to be able to see in the dark? Or, I don't know, make your eyes light up a path?"

He snorted, then lifted her up bridal style. "I can see in the dark. How's your pride now? I could always throw you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes if it'll make you feel better."

May hid her laughter as she buried her face in his shoulder. "I think I can suck it up this one time."

"Good." He leaned over to kiss her head. "You can make up for it later."

"Hey." She pulled him in for one last kiss. "Thank you. And in case you didn't know, I love you too."

His eyes shined brightly in the darkness.

+

May glanced at her watch and frowned. "Sorry guys, but we have to cut this short," she announced to the family over video chat. "I need to run to my next class."

"But May, you said you had time this time!" Daisy whined. "Come on, just five more minutes. You have ten minutes before your next class. You can make it in five."

"I'm not getting any younger, Daisy."

"It was great seeing you again, May," Simmons said, as she rubbed her protruding belly. "And who knows, maybe next time you see us, we'll be parents."

May smiled warmly. "You know we have to do another one of these video chats to see her, right? And pictures. Lots of pictures. Coulson needs something else to obsess over. There are only so many pictures I can take of Carter."

The group laughed.

"May! May! May!" Coulson shouted as he burst in to her office. "Oh, hey guys. Wait, why didn't you tell me we had another chat going on?"

"Because you decided to teach at this hour," May replied.

"You said you needed a sub!" He turned to face the group. "Sorry guys, but I need to steal May." He turned to her. "We've got a situation. It's the prankster again. Except this time one of the buildings is on fire."

May stood up and growled. "I am going to kill him this time. At least when I pulled pranks I didn't light buildings on fire."

"No, you just stole Quinjets."

"Wait, what?" Daisy shrieked. "Oh, I _need_ to hear this story."

"Sorry guys. We love you! See you next time!" Coulson hit the off button. "It's pretty bad. I can teach your class right now if you want."

"Please do. Where is the idiot?"

"In the labs. Top floor. I already called security to evacuate the top floors."

"Why didn't the sprinkler system kick in?"

Coulson shrugged. "No idea. But they were fighting it off with extinguishers. I already called the fire department too. But I figured you'd want to head all of them off to catch the idiot and rip him a new one."

"Thank you," May said. "I intend to."

"Hey." Coulson grabbed her elbow before she stormed out. "Be careful, all right?"

"Always." She leaned over and kissed him briefly. "Go hard on my class. They were slackers the other day."

He grinned. "Yes, ma'am." He grabbed her lesson plan off her desk, then paused as he noted the new picture on her desk. It was their new family picture of the two of them laughing as Carter licked their faces. Daisy insisted on taking pictures the last time she came over because May needed to have updated ones to display. It was a long yet fun day of the most ridiculous photo shoots. Most of which Carter was the star.

He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen to display his favorite picture of the shoot. It happened to be a candid shot Sousa took of him pressing a kiss to May's forehead. He didn't even realize Sousa was there until he handed him the photo later. (Because Sousa still believed in physical photos despite the digital age.)

"Aw, shit," Coulson muttered when he saw the time. He was going to be late. "Just another day at the Academy, I guess."

With one last glance at the new picture, he closed the door to May's office and ran down to basement training rooms. May would kill _him_ if he was late and didn't run her cadets into the ground.

Later that night, May flopped onto the bed face first with a groan. Coulson chuckled as he turned a page in the book he was reading and ran his fingers through her hair. "Hey, we survived. You almost killed the prankster. I almost killed your cadets. It's all good. Just another day in the Academy."

"I hate being director sometimes."

He bent down and kissed the back of her head. "Trust me, I know the feeling."

"Now I know how some of my instructors felt when I pulled pranks."

"Karma is a bitch."

She glared up at him. "Do you have anything relevant to say?"

He put the book away. "Yup. I love you. Now, let me help you relax." He grinned as May flipped over, pulling him with her.


End file.
